Westport Quakers

Westport Meeting News:

It is with great sadness to share that Steve Correia has passed away, Friday, January 14, at home and at peace. We have known for several weeks that Steve had begun to decline more rapidly, and there was a sense that Steve would not be with us much longer. We take comfort in knowing that Steve wanted most especially, to die at home, so that at least is comforting to know did happen. Steve had previously shared with me that he was looking forward to being in spirit again with his beloved late wife, June.

The vigil, “Hate Has No Place in Westport,” held last Sunday on January 23, under the care of Westport Meeting’s Peace and Social Justice Committee, was a great success. Over 100 people attended the 50 minute presentation held outside in front of our meetinghouse. Media outlets covered the event, and a number of representatives from surrounding faith communities also spoke in support of addressing this matter. One area media outlet that covered the vigil, which also has a popular print and online newspaper, EastBayRI, has the story HERE.

Midweek worship will continue to be offered each week on Wednesdays at 3:30 PM. Please note that the link for midweek worship is not the same as our regular worship on Sunday. A link for joining Midweek worship (which is the same link each week) will be emailed each week on Wednesday mornings. To insure security, we never post Zoom links on websites or portals visible to the general public. Questions? Contact Kevin Lee.

MEETING CALENDAR: (All meetings held via Zoom, in person, or hybrid (meaning in-person and via Zoom), as noted)

• Worship each Sunday in meetinghouse and via Zoom at 10am (hybrid)
•  
• Seekers Group, Monday, Jan 31, at 7pm. Hybrid. (Gretchen sends link)
• Midweek worship, Wed, Feb 2, 3:30-4pm (link sent day of, Zoom only)
• Property Committee, Wed, Feb 2 at 7pm
• Ministry and Counsel Committee, Feb 7, 7pm. Zoom only.
• NEYM Meeting leaders call, Tues, Feb 8, 7pm. via Zoom.
• Peace & Social Justice Committee, Sunday, Feb 13 at 8am. (Zoom only)
• Monthly Meeting for Business, Feb 20, at 8 AM
• NEYM “Bread Day,” March 5, 2022, with Gretchen Baker-Smith and Maggie Fiori. (Details below)
• JYM Retreat, March 18-20, “We knead each other,” via Zoom. 

MIDWEEK WORSHIP, via Zoom, WEDNESDAYS, 3:30-4:00pm!

________

Westport Community News:

Yearly Meeting/Wider Quaker News:

NEYM Faith and Practice Revision Committee: Draft chapter for review and discussion on Ministry and Counsel committees at the monthly meeting level; [Our Meeting’s M&C committee will be reviewing this document, but all Friends are encouraged to review this draft copy as well. Click HERE for the link.

New England Yearly Meeting Newsletter, “Still Waiting,” January, 2022, by Rebecca Leuchak, Providence Friends Meeting. Rebecca serves as clerk of the Yearly Meeting Sessions Committee and is our Rising Presiding Clerk of NEYM, may be read HERE:

Introduction
For BIPOC Friends
The radical Quaker spiritual journey
Read The Lemon Tree
Preserve your meeting’s history
Best practices in nominating
Coming: bread day
Mysticism, Physics, and Healing book group
Quakers adapting in new ways
Support for addressing racial justice
“Midweek Meditations” returns
We’re hiring!
Reunion coordinator needed
Being an activist
What is required of me?
Your feedback is needed!
“Ministry: the call and the challenge” on video
Sharpen your Zoom skills
Quakers in the news
A last word

Gretchen’s JYM-JHYM latest newsletter, issue of Jan 20, 2022, “Hold Us in All This Uncertainty,” contains an opening reflection, programming and retreat info for young people, parents and Friends throughout New England Yearly Meeting.  Read her latest bi-weekly newsletter HERE.

Bread Retreat, Nov 2010 K. Lee photo ©

NEYM “Bread Day,” March 5, 2022:

NEYM youth ministers Gretchen Baker-Smith and Maggie Fiori invite Friends of all ages from across New England to a day of connecting with each other and Spirit through baking bread together! This is a hybrid gathering, meaning that Friends can participate by gathering in person in their monthly meeting communities and connecting to the wider community online. Gretchen will share her ministry of baking bread as a practice of listening for Spirit, which she has shared with youth for decades. Save the date, March 5th, tell Friends at your meeting, and look out for registration opening this winter. Contact Maggie at maggie@neym.org with questions.

______

Quaker organizations, and our Yearly Meeting as a whole, are offering an amazing array of opportunities to expand our knowledge and improve our practice as Friends in a variety of ways. Check out the following links and see what we are being offered! Also, take a few minutes and explore additional programs offered by NEYM by visiting the Events page HERE.

From Deena Kinsky, Sandwich Quarterly Meeting Newsletter editor: SQM Meeting for Business will be held Saturday,  January 22, hosted online by Smith’s Neck Friends Meeting. The program is titled: “The role that beekeeping plays in creation stewardship.” It will be illustrated by a PowerPoint. The discussion will be led by Norma E. York, chair of the Acushnet Agricultural Commission and friend of the meeting. 

Afghan Refugee Information: Please see earlier newsletter containing detailed info regarding the needs of a recently arrived family from Afghanistan HERE.

________

Closing:

Dear God of all time and all creatures, help me to live fully within this cycle of infinity that is your gift to me.
Make me less fearful of the measure of time, and more fully alive in the time that simply is.
Help me to live time, not just to use it; to breathe it in, and return it in acts of love and presence. – Avis Crowe

__________

Thank you, Friends,

Kevin Lee